Summary
Shift Up’s upcoming PS5-exclusive action RPGStellar Bladehas been given an 18+ rating in Korea. This might not come as a surprise to many people, but it may render the game off limits for some players. In screenshots and trailers released so far, the game’s protagonist wears generally form-hugging outfits that don’t leave much hidden, and the developer has even revealed that“special attention” was paid to Eve’s backside inStellar Bladesince players will spend most of their time looking at it.
Eve’s shape is based on Korean model Jae-eun, and in an interview with Push Square, developer Shift Up shared that it sought to create the “most attractive-looking body” for people to gaze at while playing.Stellar Bladewill also feature about 30 different costumes to find during the game, some of which are assumed to be more risqué or revealing than others. But all of the attention hasn’t gone into only Eve’s physical attributes. Players will also collect accessories like glasses and earrings for Eve, as well as costumes for the other two main characters, Adam and Lily.
Reasons for Stellar Blade’s 18+ Rating in Korea
But it’s not just suggestivecostumes that have earnedStellar Bladethe most mature rating possible, 18+, in Korea. According to that country’sGame Management Committee, the title also features excessive violence, including red blood and mutilation. The rating decision, parsed using machine translation, also seems to suggest that some of Eve’s costumes are so scanty that they equate to nudity.
Europe and the US have not yet ratedStellar Blade, but it’s expected that the game will earn a PEGI 18 and M rating, respectively, if Korea’s decision is any indication. This may in fact give the game a boost in popularity, as many people on social media seem to viewStellar Blade’s 18+ rating as a positive thing. What counts as excessively vulgar, suggestive, or violent is also highly subjective.Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguereceived an 18+ rating in Singaporedue to its violence and language, which many people are unbothered by.
A lot ofgames are considered great not despite their M ratings, but because of them. Sometimes the mature themes and perhaps necessary violence allow the developers to tell a story as intended, without being watered down, and therefore evoke the emotions or visceral reactions that make a game memorable. WhetherStellar Bladehas earned this rating for necessary storytelling and atmosphere or just to give gamers a nice backside to look at while playing remains to be seen.
Stellar Blade
WHERE TO PLAY
RECLAIM EARTH FOR HUMANKIND The future of humanity hangs in the balance in Stellar Blade, an all-new story-driven action adventure. Ravaged by strange, powerful creatures, Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of the decimated human race has fled to a Colony in outer space. After travelling from the Colony, 7th Airborne Squad member EVE arrives on the desolate remains of our planet with a clear-cut mission: to save humankind by reclaiming Earth from the Naytiba – the malevolent force that has devastated it. But as EVE tackles the Naytiba one-by-one, piecing together the mysteries of the past in the ruins of human civilization, she realizes that her mission is far from straightforward. In fact, almost nothing is as it seems…
